Means for making stitchdown shoes



July 15, 1941. T. s.'NEwcoMB 2,249,635

\ MEANS FOR MAKING STITQHDOWN SHOES Filed Aug. 24; 1939 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 57 l I f 40 38 mm "m" J I I l- 12 INVENTOR' 7 30/7145 5 NEk/CO/ZB BY g f ATTO NE) July 15, 1941. T. s. NEWCOMB 2,249,635

MEANS FOR MAKING STITCHDOWN sHoEs Filed Aug. 24, 1939 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 E3 11v VENTOR Z AT R/VEY I July 15,1941. T. s. NEWCOMB MEANS FOR MAKING STITCHDOWN SHOES Filed Aug. 24, 1959 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Ill/11701110700114 .IlllilIlIlll lllllfllI/JI/l'I/I/A NVENTOR COMB 77/0/7/4 5 5 /VEA/ 24 TTOR July 15', 194.1. T. s. NEWCOMB MEANS FOR MAKING STITQHDOWN SHOES Filed Aug. 24, 1939 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 FIG ll FIG l3 INVENTOR filo/m5 5 NE wc one AT RN EY Patented July 15, 1941 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE MEANS FOR MAKING STITCHDOWN SHOES Thomas S. Ncwcomb, Rochester, N. Y.

Application Aug. 24, 1939, Serial No. 291,727

14 Claims.

This invention relates to methods and means for making shoes of the stitchdown type in which the sole is stitched or otherwise fastened to the outturned bottom edge of the upper, and the invention has for its principal object to provide novel means which make it possible to last the upper and apply the sole thereto with practically inexperienced operators and at a minimum cost.

A further object of this invention is to provide novel means which will uniformly last the upper and uniformly apply the sole thereto in the manufacture of stitchdown shoes.

Another object of this invention is to provide novel clamping means for adjustably holding the outturned edge of the upperduring the lasting operation. a

Afurther object of this invention is to provide novel centering means for accurately locating the upper in the machine.

Another object of this invention is to provide clamping means for adjustably holding the upper and fixedly holding the last within the upper during the lasting operation.

Another object of this invention is to provide novel sole positioning means for quickly and accurately placing the sole for attachment to the upper.

Still another object of this invention is to provide a novel arrangement of the lasting wipers relative to each other to provide at all times an unbroken supporting surface and thus prevent pinching of the upper between the lasting wipers.

A still further object of this invention is to provide novel means for making shoes which considerably reduces the time for making a shoe of the stitchdown type.

These and other objects and attendant advantages of the present invention will become more readily apparent from the detailed description thereof which follows, reference being had to the accompanying drawings in which Figure 1 is a top plan view of the novel machine for lasting shoes of the stitchdown type the sole applying mechanism, the section being taken on the line 6-6 of Figure 1.

Figure 7 is a detail perspective view of a completed upper ready-to be lasted and to have the sole applied thereto by the machine.

Figures 8 to 13 are diagrammatic views of portions of the machine showing the various steps in the method of lasting the upper and the application of the sole thereto.

Figure 14 is a detail sectional view of portions of aside and toe wiper, the section being taken on the line |4l l of Figure 1.

Figure 15 is a bottom plan view of a sole ready to be applied to the upper.

The apparatus for lasting uppers and applying the soles theretoin the manufacture of stitchdown shoes which forms the subject matter of my invention is especially adapted to perform these operations in such precise manner that absolute uniformity results in the manufacture of this type of shoes. Furthermore the operation of the apparatus is such that the lasting of the upper and the application of the sole thereto can be done quickly and expertly by unskilled operators, thus eliminating the use of highly skilled labor for these operations.

As illustrated in the drawings, the apparatus comprises a bed plate I which has an opening in the middle for the support of the last and upper therein. Suspended from the bed plate by means of the bolts 2, 2 is the base plate 3 which carries the last supporting pins 4 and 5. These pins are adjustably mounted on the base plate so that they can be raised or lowered for various sizes and shapes of lasts. Pin 4 directly engages the top of the last in its reversed position in the apparatus and pin 5 supports the toe end of the last and contacts the upper on the outside of the last.

A pad 6 is therefore provided at the top of the supporting pin 5 to prevent damage to the upper during the lasting and sole applying operation.

The top of the bed plate is -channeledtransversely to provide runways for the opposing slides I, 1 in the sides of the apparatus and have these slides move toward and away from each other.

5 The bed plate I is also channeled longitudinally at the rear to provide a runway 'for the slide 8 to have it move toward and away from one end of the slides I, 1. At the front the bed plate carries the fixed heel wiper 9 which overhangs the front end of the opening in the bed plate and is the slide 8.

able duct 24 in the slide 8.

Wipers l0, ID, the inner edges of which conform to the outline of the sides of the shoe to be lasted in the apparatus. When moved inwardly by the slides the edges of the wipers provide a continuation of the outline of the cut out portion of the heel wiper 9.

A toe wiper l l is carried by the slide 8 and its edge completes the outline of the bottom of the shoe to be lasted in the apparatus. The side wipers overlap the toe wiper as illustrated in Figures 1 and 14 in order to preserve the continuity of their edges during the movement toward and away from each other. tions of the wipers are yieldingly held against each other and are also beveled one at the top and the other at the bottom in order that their yielding contact with each other avoids the possibility of having the leather of the upper pinched therebetween.

Movement for the slides is provided by the treadle rod l2 which is operated at the bottom by a suitable foot treadle (not shown) and is connected at the top to the bell crank I3. A coil spring M, which surrounds the upper portion of the treadle rod and is interposed between the bottom of the yoke 15 and the connecting head 16, serves to normally hold the treadle rod in an elevated position in which the slides are held positioned in an outward inoperative position. For this purpose the bell crank is connected to the underside of the slide 8 so as to transform its swinging motion into a horizontal movement of The latter has lateral extensions I1, I! and from these extend the cam operating rods l8, l8 which are mounted to slide in the guide grooves l9, l9 provided in the top of the bed plate I across the runways of the slides 1, 1. Each of the rods It carries a pair of vertical pins 28, which engage into the angular cam slots 2|, 2l provided in the slides I, 1. In this way longitudinal movement of the slide 8 by the bell crank l3 causes the cam operating rods I8 to provide a simultaneous transverse movement of the slides 1, 1 so that the side wipers ll], Ill simultaneously move in and out with the toe wiper H.

The overhanging edge of all of the wipers, including that of the stationary heel wiper 9 are beveled on the underside so as to make them substantially Wedge shaped to provide sharp bending corners for engagement under the outturned edge of the upper so that during the lasting operation the upper may sharply bend around the wipers so as to be closely drawn against the last.

In the middle of the semi-circular edge of the heel wiper 9 is provided the notch 22 which is adapted to have the back stay of the upper engage thereinto so as to properly center the heel portion of the upper in the heel plate in advance of the clamping and lasting operation.

To provide a similar function at the toe end 'of the upper, the toe wiper is provided with a series of pockets 23, 23 close to the outer edge thereof. These pockets are connected with a suit- The duct in turn is connected by means of a flexible hose 25 with a vacuum pump or partially exhausted tank so that when the outturned edge of the toe end of an upper is laid over the edge of the toe plate the partial vacuum in the pockets 23 will cause atmospheric pressure to hold the outturned edge of the upper against the top of the edge of the toe wiper. In this way the heel portion of the upper -may be properly located in the heel place and The overlapping porthe toe portion held relative thereto in the to wiper for proper fixed location of the upper in the machine in order to permit the clamping of the entire outturned edge of the upper in a properly centered position between all of the wipers prior to the lasting operation.

The clamping operation is partially performed by the combined clamping and sole locating plate 26 which is held between the arms 21, 21 and has a largecentral opening 28 therein of substantially the size and outline of the sole which is to be applied to the upper. The arms 21 are pivoted to swing on the bed plate so as to locate the plate 25 with the edges of the opening 28 encircling the edges of the wiper and heel plates parallel thereto and substantially uniformly spaced from the edges of the side wipers and the toe wiper. When the plate 26 is thus swung in place over the wipers, the outturned edges of the upper are preliminarily held between it and the wipers. This permits the last to be inserted into the upper for the lasting operation. However, before the lasting operation takesplace the outturned edges of the upper must be held firmly clamped against the wiper and the last forced into its proper position within the upper and fixedly held in the machine.

This is performed by the clamping mechanism which is carried by the horizontally swinging arm 30. One end of this arm is pivotally supported on the bed plate I so as to swing the clamping mechanism in a horizontal movement over the bed plate for location in its operative position over the wipers and for location in its inoperative position to one side of the bed plate.

As illustrated in the various figures and especially Figure 4, the clamping mechanism comprises a pair of vertically spaced plate members 3|, and 32. The lower plate 3| carries the bolts 33 near the corners thereof and the upper plate is movable on these bolts and is yieldingly forced against the heads 34 by means of the pressure springs 35 which are interposed between the plate members. Both plates are yieldingly suspended from the arm 30 by means of a pair of suspension springs 36 which normally hold the uppermost plate against the bottom of the guide blocks 31. A pair of guide pins 38 carried by the lower plate member 30 extend thru the guide blocks and serve to guide both plates in a straight line movement toward and away from the bottom of the arm 30.

Depending from the underside of the upper plate member 32 and passing thru suitable holes in the'lower plate member are the pressure pins 39, preferably three in number, which are arranged in such a manner that two of these pins are located for engagement with the toe end of the last while one pin is located for engagement with the heel end thereof when the clamping mechanism is placed over the last. Operation of the clamping mechanism is secured by the movement of the cam 40 which is pivotally mounted in the arm 30 and is provided with the handle 4| With the clamping mechanism swung over the clamping plate 26, a last inserted into the upper with the outturned edges of the upper held between the clamping plate 26 and the edges of the wipers the movement of the handle 4| causes the cam 40 to turn and depress the upper plate member 32 to have the pressure pins 39 engage the bottom of the last and force the last into the upper against the supporting pins 4 and 5. While the last is thus forced into the upper and fixedly held in place on'the supporting pins 4 and 5, pressure from the upper plate member is transmitted to the lower plate member against the clamping plate 26 thru the pressure springs 35 so that the outturned edges of the upper between the wipers and the clamping plate are forcibly but yieldingly held clamped between them. With 3 the last in place and the edges of the upper held in the manner above described, the treadle is operated to move the bell crank l3 and cause the toe wiper and the side wipers to move inwardly,

thereby tightly drawing the upper around the 5 edge portion of the last. The yielding pressure exerted by the pressure springs will permit the outturned edge of the upper to give under the drawing tension of the wipers so that the outturned edge will conform to the outline of the last as it is being drawn thereagainst by the Wipers.

With the upper thus drawn around the/last and the outturned edges of the upper held uniformly spread out by the clamping plate, the 2 plate members of the clamping mechanism are released by the cam 46 and raised by the suspension springs 36' so that this mechanism may be swung to one side to expose the opening thru the clamping plate. The sole, which has the out- I line of the opening, is then placed thereinto so as to rest on the exposed portion of the outturned edge of the upper within the opening. Both the bottom edge of the sole and the outturned edge of the upper have previously been coated with a suitable cement so that pressure exerted against the outside of the sole will cause these cemented surfaces to adhere and fasten the sole to the upper.

To provide a uniform pressure when forcing the edge of the sole and causes the adhesion of the cement coated surfaces of the sole and the upper.

Figures 8 to 13 inclusive diagrammatically illustrate the, steps in the operation of the apparatus, as above described.

Figure 8 shows the upper placed into the apparatus between the edges of the wipers with the free edge of the upper outturned and resting on top of the wipers.

Figure 9 shows the clamping plate 26 placed over the outturned edge to hold the upper properly centered between the Wipers whilea last is preliminarily positioned in the upper.

In Figure 10 the clamping mechanism is brought into position over the clamping plate and operated to force the last into the upper for proper fixed location on the supporting pins, while the outturned edge of the upper is yieldingly clamped between the clamping plate 26 and the top. of the wipers.

Figure 11 illustrates the operation of the wipers in drawing the upper over the edge portion of the last while the outturned edge of the upper is yieldingly held in such a manner that it may give to the drawing tension of the wipers and conform to the. outline of the bottom of the last.

In Figure 12 the clamping mechanism is withdrawn from the clamping plate to permit the insertion of a sole into the opening of the clamping plate for accurate location and. attachment to the exposed portion of the outturned edge of the upper.

In Figure 13 a pressure plate 43 is placed on top of the sole 4'! and the clamping mechanism located over it to have it force the edge portion of the sole against the edge of the upper for adhesion thereto.

A sock lining 41A is attached to the sole before the sole is attached to the upper. This saves considerable time over the old method in which the sock lining is attached tothe sole after the sole is attached to the upper. Attaching the sock lining 41A to the sole before it is attached to the upper is made possible because in the. present method each sole in its attachment is accurately and uniformly positioned on the upper by the machine so that when the lining is properly dimensioned and accurately placed on the sole it will be in turn accurately placed by the machine within the outturned edge of the upper.

To provide for a proper operative and inoperative location of the clamping mechanism the pivoted end of the arm 30 is provided with a pair of radially projecting pins 44 and 45 which are angularly spaced thereon so as to alternately engage the stop pin 46 which is mounted on the bed plate adjacent the arm 30 between the projecting pins 44 and 45 thereof. In this way engagement of pin 44 with stop pin 46 will locate the clamping mechanism in its proper inoperative position to one side of the bed plate as illustrated in Figure 1, whereas movement of the arm 30 so that pin 45 engages stop pin 46 will bring the clamping mechanism into its operative position above the wipers.

The clamping plate 26 is mounted on the bed plate so that it must be swung in place over the wiper and. heel plates before the clamping 'mechanism is brought into position and it is provided with suitable lugs 21A at the bottom of the arms 2'! so that their engagement with the side of the bed plate normally hold these arms and the clamping plate in an upright inoperative position as illustrated in Figure 5.

As illustrated in Figure '7, a completed upper ready to be lasted and then have a sole attached thereto by means of the apparatus above described, comprises the quarters 48 and 49 which are sewed together at the back and stiffened by theback stay 50. To the quarters at the front is sewed the vamp 5i and within the quarters at the rear is cemented the counter 52. In order to prepare the completed upper for operation in the apparatus, the free edges of the quarters with the counter and back stay are suitably outturned as illustrated in Figure '7 so that only the pliable edge of the vamp has to be flattened over the side wipers and toe wiper on the insertion of the upper into the machine.

A narrow strip 53 around the entire inner edge of the upper is suitably coated with an adhesive for the attachment of the sole thereto. The bottom of the sole 4'! is covered with an adhesive and the sock lining 41A attached thereto so that but a narrow strip 54 of the adhesive is exposed on the sole for attachment to the upper in the manner above described.

In order to make both right and left shoes with the machine the clamping plate 26 is reversibly mounted between the arms 21, 21. In one position the clamping plate may thus be used with one set of side wipers and a toe wiper for making rights and in the reversed position the same plate may be used with another set of side wipers and a toe wiper for making lefts. For this purpose the side wipers l and toe wiper II are removably mounted and readily exchangeable on the slides l and 8 respectively.

I claim:

1. In a combined lasting and shoe applying machine the combination with a toe lasting wiper movable lengthwise and a side lasting wiper movable widthwise of the upper and the last in the machine, of a rigid clamping plate with a fixed opening therethru having substantially the outline and size of the sole to be applied and an operative movement against the top of said wipers so as to hold the edges of the upper outturned from the opening in the plate between the wipers and the clamping plate, and means for causing the movement of said wipers below said clamping plate so as to draw the upper against the last and provide for the placement of the sole against the exposed edge portion of the upper within the opening in said clamping plate.

2. In a combined lasting and sole applying machine the combination with a toe lasting wiper movable lengthwise and a side lasting wiper movable widthwise of the upper and last in the machine, of a rigid clamping plate with a fixed opening therethru having substantially the outline and size of the sole to be applied and an operating movement toward and away from the top of said wipers so as to engage and hold the edges of the upper outturned between it and the wipers, means for causing the movement of said wipers with the edge of the upper held yieldingly clamped onto said wipers so as to draw the upper against the last and adjust the outturned edge of the upper around the bottom of the last within the opening of said clamping plate to provide for the placement of a sole onto the exposed portion of the edge portion of the upper within said opening.

3. In a combined lasting and sole applying machine the combination with a toe lasting wiper movable lengthwise and a side wiper movable widthwise of the upper and last in the machine, of a clamping plate with an opening therethru movable on top of said wipers to engage and hold the edge of the upper outturned between the clamping plate and the wipers and provide for the placement of a sole thru said opening against the portion of the outturned edge of the upper exposed within said opening, and pressure means movable over the opening in said clamping plate and into engagement with the sole so as to hold the sole against the outturned edge of the upper under pressure.

4. In a machine for applying a sole to the outturned edge of an upper in combination with means for supporting the outturned edge of the upper in the machine, of a locating plate having an opening therethru and movable to rest on the outturned edge of the upper with a portion of the edge exposed within said opening, a clamping mechanism movable over said clamping plate and comprising a pair of superimposed pressure plates, means for holding said pressure plates yieldingly spaced, pressure pins carried by the upper pressure plate and projecting thru the lower pressure plate and means operating against the upper pressure plate to yieldingly force the lower pressure plate against said clamping plate and move said pressure pins into the opening of said clamping plate into engagement with the last within the upper.

5. In a machine for applying a sole as set forth in claim 4 in which the opening thru said clamping plate has substantially the dimensions and outline of the sole to be applied to the outturned edge of the upper so as to have the clamping plate locate a sole in a predetermined position relative to the outturned edge of the upper.

6. In a lasting machine the combination with a toe lasting wiper movable lengthwise and a side lasting wiper movable widthwise of the upper and last in the machine, of a fixed heel lasting Wiper having a substantially semi-circular lasting edge and a notch in said edge adapted to have the backstay of an upper engage thereinto and fixedly locatethe upper in said heel lasting wiper relative to said toe and side lastingwipers.

'7. In a lasting machine the combination of a toe lasting wiper movable lengthwise and a side lasting wiper movable widthwise of the upper and last in the machine, said toe lasting wiper having an opening therein in close proximity to the lasting edge thereof and adapted to, have a partial vacuum created therein so as to have the atmospheric pressure force the outturned edge of the upper against said opening and hold the upper fixed on the toe lasting wiper.

8. In a lasting machine the combination of a stationary and a movable lasting wiper arranged oppositely each other in the machine, said movable lasting wiper having an opening therein close to the edge thereof adapted to have a partial vacuum created therein to cause atmospheric pressure to hold the outturned edge of an upper against said movable wiper relative to said stationary Wiper.

9. In a lasting machine the combination of a bed plate, a fixed heel lasting wiper on said bed plate, a toe lasting wiper movable lengthwise and a side lasting wiper movable widthwise of said bed plate, a clamping plate having an opening therethru mounted to swing on said bed plate over said lasting wipers so as to have its opening surround the free edges of said movable lasting wipers substantially uniformly spaced therefrom.

10. In a lasting machine the combination as set forth in claim 9 including a clamping mechanism comprising a pressure plate, means for yieldingly supporting said pressure plate, an arm mounted to swing on said bed plate adapted to swing said clamping mechanism over said clamping plate and means carried by said arm for moving and yieldingly holding said pressure plate against said clamping plate.

11. In a lasting machine the combination as set forth in claim 9 including a pressure plate movable in the opening of said clamping plate and means movable over said clamping plate and engaging said pressure plate for movement thereby.

12. In combination with a lasting machine having lasting wipers for the support of the outturned edge of the upper in the machine, of a clamping plate movable over said lasting wipers and having an opening therethru having substantially the dimensions and outline of the sole for attachment to the upper, a pressure plate, a pressure ridge on the bottom of said pressure plate extending around the edge thereof for engagement of the edge of the sole within the opening of said clamping plate and means for depressing said pressure plate in said opening to cause its pressure edge to force the edge of the sole into contact with the outturned edge of the upper supported on said lasting wipers.

13. In a machine for applying a sole to the outturned edge of an upper in combination with means for supporting the outturned edge of the upper in the machine and means for fixedly supporting a last in the machine, of a, locating plate having an opening therethru and movable to rest on the outturned edge of the upper with a portion of the edge exposed within said opening, a clamping mechanism movable over said locating plate and comprising a pair of superimposed pressure plates, means for holding said pressure plates yieldingly spaced, pressure pins carried by the upper pressure plate and projecting thru the lower pressure plate and means operating against the upper pressure plate to yieldingly force the lower pressure plate against said locating plate and move said pressure pins of the upper pressure plate into the opening of said locating plate to force the last onto its supporting means in the machine.

14. In a machine for applying a sole to the outturned edge of an upper in combination with means for supporting the outturned edge of the upper in the machine, a locating plate having an opening therethru and movable to rest on the outturned edge of the upper with a portion of the edge exposed within said opening, a pressure plate movable over said clamping plate, a movable pressure pin carried by said pressure plate, and means operating against said pressure plate to yieldingly force said pressure plate against said clamping plate and move said pressure pin into the opening of said clamping plate against the last within the upper to force the last into the upper.

THOMAS S. NEWCOMB. 

